He's what I call the Tony Romo type qb. Not good enough to get you where you want to go, but not bad enough to put you in a position in the draft to be able to get a guy who can replace him.

Those guys get you stuck in football purgatory. The 49ers are so damn talented that they can potentially go to a championship with this kind of qb, but I just can't bet on the guy to get it done bc of his limitations.

No one seemed to answer this. I remember this vividly. I was completely against the 49ers drafting Alex Smith. I stopped liking the 49ers because of this draft pick. But more importantly their reasons for drafting Alex Smith.

There were a plethora of reasons why Smith went #1 overall. Most of which did not have to do with his physical ability.

Alex Smith was very well liked. He did tremendous during the interview process and made a buzz late in the process that he was an exceptional leader. He also scored very high on their IQ test. Although it was excepted that he was going to be a project from transferring to a pro style offense, most believed that he had the maturity and QB smarts to learn a complex system. He was supposed to be so smart that he could be NFL ready sooner rather than later. His intangibles negated some of his question marks surrounding his college scheme.

People throughout the process continually asked, "Is Alex Smith a franchise QB?" There were concerns about arm strength and his ability to throw the ball vertically into tight windows. He never did it in college and only thew deep to open targets. His physical ability was that of a mid round draft pick. Most people never rally debated against his physical limitations. He was pumped up in draft because of the position he played, his winning success in college (by making Utah a national powerhouse), his athleticism / ability to be multi-dimensional and, as previously stated, his top notch intangibles and leadership qualities. Those positives pushed him into round 1. I agreed that those positives made him more valuable than a mid round talent, and even a solid second round prospect, but his arm strength was more than just an a minor issue. It devalued his ability to run certain offenses.

What pushed him into #1 overall discussion was the need of the 49ers to draft a QB. San Francisco was taking a QB, and they were determined to give him the biggest rookie contract in the history of football. Not, however, because Smith was so deserving of it. The 49ers front office was a complete joke at the time. They tried to convince the fans that they were dedicated to winning. They thought they could prove this by drafting a QB and then paying him a hefty contract. This would prove that they weren't cheap. It was a PR stunt. And a terrible decision.

Also, another thing that needs to be mentioned, was the lack of superstars at the top of the 2005 NFL Draft. He did not have great competition. Aaron Rodgers was not an elite prospect. Jeff Tedford's offense and resume for turning out high profile, first round draft busts scared teams away. There was much greater concern about Rodgers college offense than there was with Smith's offense. People didn't like the way Rodgers held onto the ball. They complained that he held the ball too high and too close to his ear. His arm strength was better than Smith's, but not by much. And certainly not what it is today after Rodgers changed his throwing mechanics. Rodgers also didn't have the college career that matched up against Smith's. Smith was viewed as the QB who carried his offense. Rodgers managed Jeff Tedford's offense. Rodgers didn't blow away teams in the interview process like Smith did. He was viewed as being a notch below in the intangibles department. Rodgers was seen a player a little too full of himself, and not talented enough to have such a brashness to his personality. Smith was easy going and gave all the right answers.

The icing on the cake was when Nick Saban publicly stated that they (the Dolphins) were not moving up to draft Alex Smith, but they would take Smith if the 49ers didn't. The Dolphins said they were not going to draft a QB unless it was Alex Smith at #2 overall. That told the 49ers three things. 1) Smith would not be there if they tried to trade down. 2) The Dolphins agreed with them that Smith was the better QB of the two. 3) Not only was Smith higher on their (Dolphins) board, but there was a significant gap between Smith and Rodgers. So much so that that Dolphins would not consider Rodgers at #2 overall.

I hated the pick for a couple reasons. First and foremost was because I thought Smith was a second round talent. But to me it felt like the 49ers had to convince themselves that Smith was a franchise QB by hyping up everything about him you didn't see on the field / stat sheet. I never heard so much talk about a QBs wonderlic score than Alex Smith's (until Vince Young came along the following year). And the 49ers reason for paying Smith the contract they did... It's just wrong and against the ideas of sound player management. It was the prototypical scenario of drafting a QB for the sake of drafting a QB.

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Originally Posted by Scott Wright

I honestly believe Reggie Bush has turned into exactly the type of player I envisioned.

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Originally Posted by PossibleCabbage

I would like it if there were more successful black Quarterbacks in the NFL...

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Originally Posted by bearsfan_51

iamcandian lives in a cabin in the Yukon Territory and writes letters to railroad barons about the price of hard tack.

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Originally Posted by GatorsBullsFan

I could possibly see Matthew Stafford Dropping out of the 1st round

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Originally Posted by GoRavens

Tahj Boyd has the best fundamentals of any QB in this class, I think his game translates great to the NFL.

yes ive been saying for a while there 49ers are gonna keep knocking on the door for a SB with Alex Smith, but theyre not gonna win one until Kap takes over, and I do think they will win one with Kap. That defense is mostly young and is gonna be nasty for a long time. Same for the OL. Vernon Davis and Crabtree are both still young. Frank Gore might be over the hill by that time, but with Kendall Hunter and Lamichael James, the run game should still be good. I think the 49ers are set up to be good for a long time.

Is there something wrong with Harbuagh? He has some seriously strange personality quirks.

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Originally Posted by SolidGold

Bortlezzzzzzz

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Originally Posted by Monomach

Brilliant letting one of Scott Pioli's henchmen have his own team to ruin. One of the premier GM jobs in the NFL and it gets handed to a stupid **** who makes three facepalm moves for every good one. Awesome. Just like handing a new Mercedes to a 16 year old girl who's already been in three wrecks.